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Stormwater Management Action Plan
What is stormwater?
Stormwater, or urban runoff, is rainwater or snowmelt that runs over surfaces such as lawns, roofs, streets, and parking lots. With no action, stormwater can become polluted by litter, dirt, bacteria, chemicals, and oils that it picks up along its journey. When polluted stormwater reaches a water body, it can have a harmful impact on the plants and animals in and around the water. It can also affect people who swim or fish in the water.
Why is the City implementing a Stormwater Management Action Plan (SMAP)?
The Washington State Department of Ecology has added the development of a Stormwater Management Action Plan (SMAP) to their 2019-2024 Phase II Municipal Stormwater Permit requirements. Stormwater Planning, including development of a SMAP, is one of several components of the City of Port Angeles' Stormwater Management Program (SWMP), being implemented daily to protect our valuable fresh and marine receiving waters. More about the City's SWMP can be found here. More information about the Phase II Stormwater Permit is available on the Department of Ecology website.
How will the SMAP benefit our community?
We all know that time and money are finite resources. We also know that actions must be taken now to preserve our pristine areas and improve those already impacted. This effort is intended to get the ball rolling in the most efficient and effective direction.
Developing a SMAP helps the City to critically asses our watersheds, identify priority basins that would receive the most benefit from intervention, and develop a basin-specific action plan for improvement. The resulting action plan will include best management practices (BMPs) that are applicable and tailored to the specific priority basin selected for consideration. Different basins have different challenges and will require different solutions. A fully developed basin may benefit most from a retrofit project-type BMP, such as the design of a regional stormwater facility where treatment and/or flow control is installed into an existing stormwater conveyance main. A more undeveloped basin may benefit more from a less-tangible BMP, such as improved ordinances geared towards minimizing impacts from future development and protecting receiving waters.
Once completed, this plan will be used to inform staff on how and where we can take action to receive the most benefit in our community. It may also be used to partner with basin-protection stakeholders and secure funding to bring the action plan to life.
SMAP Phase | Action | Timeline |
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Phase 1: Receiving Water Conditions Assessment |
Assess the conditions of our natural bodies of water to identify which are most likely to benefit from stormwater management planning and delineate the drainage basins | Completed March 2022 |
Phase 2: Prioritization |
Categorize and rank drainage basins to identify one (1) priority basin that would benefit from implementation of Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) | Completed June 2022 |
Phase 3: SMAP |
Select stormwater projects, policy and code changes, and management actions for priority catchment | Completed March 2023 |
SMAP Phase | Project Documents | Public Participation |
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Phase 1:
Receiving Water Conditions Assessment |
Receiving Water Conditions Assessment | Review document. |
Phase 2: Prioritization |
Final Receiving Water Prioritization Memo | Public review comment period closed September 1, 2022. Comments received were considered and used to guide Phase 3, the SMAP for the Valley Creek Basin. |
Phase 3: SMAP |
2023 Stormwater Management Action Plan - Valley Creek Basin | The public comment period following the City's virtual Open House presentation closed on January 16, 2023. Comments received were considered and used to guide the final draft Phase 3 report for the Valley Creek Basin. |
The layers, boundaries, attributes, and rankings used in developing the Receiving Water Conditions Assessment and Prioritization (Phase 1 & 2) have been published on ArcGIS online for public access and use: View Interactive Map
Once the Stormwater Management Action Plan (SMAP) is complete, the online map will be updated with the results from Phase 3: SMAP for one priority basin.
How can I get involved?
The review period closed on January 16, 2023. Comments received were considered and used to guide the final draft Phase 3 report for the Valley Creek Basin. The City of Port Angeles thanks you for your feedback!
Project Contact
If you have any questions regarding the development of a Stormwater Management Action Plan (SMAP), please contact the City's Stormwater Engineer at stormwater@cityofpa.us.
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Stormwater/ Project Manager
Civil/Utility Engineer
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Public Works & Utilities
Physical Address
321 East 5th Street
Port Angeles, WA 98362